


An Angel Shall Fall

by madnessiseverything



Series: Heaven Cannot Keep Us Apart [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angel!Alec Lightwood, Angels, Angst, Fallen Angel, First Kiss, Hopeful Ending, I never once use the name Alec whoops, I'm sorry?, Magnus is still a warlock, Mention of blood, edited: finally fixed the eye color issue, hazel all the way, kind of, so I set out to write something fluffy but this happened, so instead of nephilim shadowhunters they're real angels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-28
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-06-05 03:01:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6686494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madnessiseverything/pseuds/madnessiseverything
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the end, Magnus had not expected Alexander to choose him. The angel was what the fairytales about celestial beings told to the listening hearts of humanity: pure, dutiful and true to his kin, the creatures of light and law. Angels did not step into the dark grey Magnus lived in, did not see the shades between black and white. Angels did not feel mundane emotions, their minds unlike the creatures of the ground. And above everything else they did not fall in love, especially not with demon descendants. Magnus was not stupid. He knew angels did not belong into his world. </p>
<p>The one where Alec deciding to be with Magnus could prove to be more painful than he could ever imagine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Angel Shall Fall

**Author's Note:**

> My first time writing for Shadowhunters! Yay! I based this entirely off the show, especially a certain scene we've all replayed too many times.  
> I kind of intended my first time writing in this fandom to be a cute fluffy AU, but my brain doesn't let me have nice things. But I hope you still enjoy it.  
> The style of writing is still one I'm testing out, so please tell me if it works or not. Also, if you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out so I can correct them!

In the end, Magnus had not expected Alexander to choose him. The angel was what the fairytales about celestial beings told to the listening hearts of humanity: pure, dutiful and true to his kin, the creatures of light and law. Angels did not step into the dark grey Magnus lived in, did not see the shades between black and white. Angels did not feel mundane emotions, their minds unlike the creatures of the ground. And above everything else they did not fall in love, especially not with demon descendants. Magnus was not stupid. He knew angels did not belong into his world.  
  
And yet Alexander had managed to break through the shield of darkness with a frightening ease, his wings folded against his back in a restrained manner Magnus had never before seen on any angel. His true form was kept behind the glamour of a pale boy, as to appear as small and simple as angels could possibly muster. If Magnus had not known better than to make the comparison, he would have described the subdued facade as an attempt made by Alexander to fade into the shadows behind others of his kin. But angels did not cast such shadows.  
  
The warlock did not understand how angels like Alexander could ever fade into the background, could ever want to be overlooked. The first time he had laid eyes on the celestial creature he had been sure his time had come to fall beneath the earth. Beings like Magnus weren’t supposed to come into the light of angels; he knew when his eyes stung from the effort of simply looking at it.  
  
But Alexander had shared his light so willingly, as if scared the warlock wouldn’t find his way in the darkness of earth. Magnus had laughed at the foolishness of the angel; after all, his eyes were not made for the light. He had laughed, but Alexander had not gone, had not faded away. And Magnus had noticed that his own feet were still planted firmly above the earth, with the gap behind his heart pulsing weakly, making itself known.  
  
Magnus had never expected that space to flutter with life again. He hadn’t expected to seek out the light with which the hazel eyed angel was surrounded, hadn’t expected to grow accustomed to the sting it brought. He knew this was the closest to heaven he’d ever get, to such a thing as paradise. Maybe that’s why he reached out despite his body’s need to turn away.  
  
But he hadn’t thought Alexander would ever try to move closer. He thought he’d have to learn to be happy with the brief glimpses of the boy beneath the celestial mask, to only be graced with the light for small moments of his immortal life.  
  
Had someone told Magnus he’d ever feel graced by an angel a century ago, he’d laughed heartily before ripping the person’s life away. He was not kind, not after all that had happened to the world, what had been done to him. Mundanes killing each other left and right, angels withdrawing from the earth with their heads held high and their weapons deemed too divine to fight along Mundane or Downworlder. Only demons could ever end upon an angel’s sword.  
  
Angels had believed themselves above the blood reigning upon earth then and still today they looked down with frowns and disgust that made Magnus’ blood boil. He had thought all angels to be the same.  
  
Until Alexander had shot an arrow straight past the warlock into his opponent, before Magnus could defend himself against the rogue werewolf. Until an angel had put a glamour over himself to sink down onto earth to ask if Magnus was okay.  
  
Magnus stared at the grey walls around him and desperately wished for the light that had been absent for too long now. His eyes yearned for the sting of tears when he tried to get too close to the angel.  
  
Alexander hadn’t come to meet him for two weeks. Two long weeks that had been eating away at the warlock’s heart, claws digging deep into it with every day that went by. Magnus cursed the ability to still feel pain, cursed his vulnerability to the angel’s beautifully hazel eyes and raven hair. He slammed his fist against the concrete floor beneath him, the thin blanket he sat on doing nothing to soften the impact. His knuckles throbbed, but Magnus pressed his hand into the cold floor. Damn his ability to still feel love.  
  
Angels did not love, everyone knew it. Angels did not care for Downworlders. No angel would ever consider befriending a creature of earth, much less fall in love with a warlock. Magnus had known it all, and yet his heart had beat with hope each time that Alexander smiled at him, eyes downcast and pink staining his face.  
  
But he had been foolish to hope Alexander would risk falling to be with Magnus. No angel would risk anything for someone like Magnus. Angels did not feel such things, did not act in these ways. After all they were up there somewhere while they left everyone else to wither on earth.  
  
And still Magnus sat cross-legged in the empty warehouse, desperate to glimpse the angel’s light again, desperate for another step into a temporary heaven of his own. His allies would laugh if they ever knew Magnus had fallen for an angel. He knew to them he would be nothing but a lovesick fool who dreamed of something he did not deserve.  
  
He wished he was strong enough to leave, to go back to the warmth of his home, to a cat curling up in his lap while he followed the latest mundane television show with a glass of wine in his hand. His fingers twitched against the concrete at the thought of standing up and walking away. He felt weaker than any draining magic had ever managed to do.  
  
He glanced at the opposing wall again, wonky letters spelling “Make your own paradise” against the crumbling grey, colors old and weathered. Magnus thought it fitting. After all, that’s what he had thought he and Alexander were doing.  
  
He closed his eyes, remembering their last encounter with a bitter smile etched into his features. He had asked Alexander to be with him. Selfish as the warlocks were, he had told the angel to choose. But was it selfish if he knew how badly Alexander truly wanted the same as he did? He had been so sure he knew what Alexander felt, had thought he could see his own love reflected in those heavenly eyes. But the angel had dropped his glamour for the first time since their first meeting, rising in his true form with fire in his eyes and light engulfing him, so much stronger and rawer with rage.  
  
_“What do you risk?”_ Alexander’s words echoed within his skull, their effect on him reminding Magnus of a panicked animal caught in a steel trap and chewing on its own leg. The sound of Alexander’s voice, cracking with anger, was tearing into his heart with dagger-like teeth. He wished he could release himself from them, could rip the chains that kept them in his mind. He wanted nothing more than to get rid of the words. And yet he wanted to hold onto them, onto the last thing Alexander had said to him before his light had blazed up to an inferno.  
  
The memory of light illuminated the inside of his eyelids as he remembered the furious angel ascending to his home, leaving behind a warlock with tears in his eyes and a stubborn spark of hope to find the angel at their usual meeting spot again. Even now, with his mind screaming at Magnus to turn his back, that spark kept flickering, searching for food to keep itself alive in his chest.  
  
_“I will not ask again.”_ His own parting words hadn’t rung true; in fact Magnus wasn’t sure he’d ever told a bigger lie in all his years on earth. Magnus knew he was ready to ask the same question, was ready to plead with his angel to give him another chance. Magnus was ready to beg for closure.  
  
He opened his eyes to escape the light, only for it to intensify as he blinked. The air left the warlock’s lungs, punched out in a way he imagined it felt to be run through with a spear. It left him gasping for breath as his eyes settled on Alexander.  
  
Everything was bright, the world dipped in such an angelic light that Magnus wanted to recoil, to scramble to his feet and run. He wanted to react the way he should’ve when he encountered this brightness for the first time. The pure light was not meant for beings like him, not even after all the times Alexander graced him with its purity surrounding him. His eyes stung, but they found Alexander’s gaze quickly, latching onto the most fascinating shades of brown and green Magnus had ever had the luck of stumbling upon. Alexander’s face was blank, wide eyes the only indicator of any emotion. His fists were clenched besides him; his wings unfurled and spread out in a wide arch, the tips of them almost disappearing into the light behind him.  
  
As Magnus stared at the angel, the mask void of emotion began to crack. Fine lines pulled through the carefully crafted indifference to let Magnus see fear bleeding through. Cracks turned to open wounds as the angel dropped his cold demeanor to leave behind the vulnerable creature Magnus had gotten to know. Magnus did not understand why his angel looked so utterly terrified, until Alexander took a small step towards him. It hit Magnus just like the appearance of Alexander had. The dutiful, loyal angel was making a choice. He was bathed in white light, wings extended as far as they could go, and the true form of the angel glowing through his glamour.  
  
Magnus knew Alexander had to choose. He could not belong to heaven while walking upon earth next to a warlock. And when Alexander hesitated, he couldn’t do anything but hope he was the final decision. Alexander, his angel, belonged into the light that surrounded him. Magnus was not made for such conditions, but the angel was meant to be part of this shine. And yet Magnus found himself hoping his love could drag the angel out.  
  
A shudder went through the ground and Magnus swayed, barely steadying himself as he tried to understand what was going on. He saw the open fear on his angel’s face, eyes wide and lips parted, no trace of his mask left upon the sheer beauty of his appearance. But just as quick as the mask had fallen, something new, something better replaced it, pushing at the obvious panic on the angel’s features. Resolve shot up like a wall, his eyes hardening.  
  
Alexander took a step towards Magnus and the warlock didn’t dare breathe. Another step took him closer and the light around the boy felt like its own being, a pulse going through so strong that Magnus feared it would knock him over and stomp over his body. Alexander took another step, then a fourth one. With each second he seemed to gain confidence, until he was walking towards Magnus with an urgency the warlock had never seen before on the angel’s face. The distance between them disappeared quickly, Magnus not registering the minimizing space until hands were twisted into his jacket, pulling him against the taller form of Alexander. Then the angel’s lips were on his and Magnus felt the space behind his heart fill up, threatening to push his heart apart from the sheer force of its completion. His eyes slipped shut, hands coming up to pull at the angel’s body, anything to get him impossibly closer. Magnus felt the desperation Alexander pressed against his lips, tilting his head for better access. The hands in Magnus’ jacket gripped tightly, with a force he had never dared to use on the warlock before. The strength of an angel almost tore through the material.  
  
Magnus hadn’t thought he’d ever be chosen by Alexander, but the passion coursing through him let the realization sink in like a stone in the ocean. The angel had chosen him.  
  
A loud, sudden thump went through the air around them, shaking the warehouse and them. It was almost reminiscent of a single, deafening heartbeat. Magnus startled, but Alexander’s hands did not release their hold and teeth were digging into Magnus’ bottom lip, cutting the soft skin. He tasted blood as Alexander’s tongue dipped into his opened mouth. There was more than desperation in the kiss now, a feeling of coming home almost. Magnus wondered how it could be that this felt like home when they had never kissed before. Home, desperation and fear on the angel’s side, and a deep desire to have each other as close as mortal bodies allowed.  
  
Then Alexander’s body jerked forward, lips falling away from Magnus’ own. He let out a scream, hoarse and so full of pain that Magnus felt it to his core. His skin crawled, a sense of utter wrongness befalling him. Beings like Alexander were not supposed to feel a pain that raw. His angel crashed into Magnus, taking the warlock by surprise as his body went limp. Panic took ahold of Magnus when Alexander’s head lolled against his shoulder. He lowered them on the ground, careful not to twist Alexander’s body as he cradled his head in his lap. Shallow rasps escaped the angel, reassuring Magnus that he was alive.  
  
His own breath was knocked out of him once again, but not by the sight of Alexander in his arms, nor the light surrounding them. The world around them was bleak now, the old walls of the warehouse surrounding them, the letters mocking them as they watched Magnus struggle to hold himself together. The angelic light had gone, vanished when Alexander had dropped against Magnus. No, it wasn’t the light – or the obvious disappearance of it - that made him fear that he would never breathe again. It was the blood, streaming over Alexander’s back from two gruesome wounds centered between his shoulder blades. He felt the cool air burn in his lungs when he found his breath again. Alexander was not supposed to bleed like this. Blood this red did not deserve to come from a being this pure. And yet it stained the pale skin, the color amiss as it ran over Magnus’ hands. His heart skipped a beat, feelings of guilt and pain raging within him.  
  
His Alexander had been stripped of his wings.  
  
An Angel had fallen.  
  
xxx  
  
_“I do not understand!” The shout was angry, but the crack of the male voice betrayed the anguish behind the statement. An angel with ink black hair looked up from her position, crouched atop an abandoned building with her fingers tight around the edge of the roof. Her wings curled around her, the feathers dipping down in a gesture of grief. Her eyes shone, but no tears would ever come out and streak her face. She could not cry. Her brother had asked her not to._  
  
_“How could he do this to himself?” The voice repeated, coming from a blond angel, standing a few paces behind the grieving angel. A kind of pain unusual for his kind showed on his face. His voice, broken with confusion and grief, was the only thing cutting through the silence around the two creatures. The ink haired angel had not uttered a single word since she saw her brother fall willingly. “How could he just…” The blond angel cut off with a choked noise, moving next to his companion. She raised her head fully to look up at him with a weak smile and uttered quiet words, gentle in the storm of feelings they had never thought their minds could comprehend._  
  
_“He fell in love.” The two angels gazed down into the building across from them, watching through broken glass as an unknowing warlock sat on the ground, tending to wounds that would never truly heal. Their brother, such a foolish thing, lay in the warlock’s arms, nothing but a traitor to his own kind now._  
  
_The two angels shared a silent agreement in the way the blond angel let his hand drop, the black haired one getting up before grabbing hold of it._  
  
_Their brother did not betray them. They would make sure nobody would ever dare to forget that._  


**Author's Note:**

> *gives the half-empty cookie jar a slight push* good?  
> Thank you so much for reading, I promise the next one will be light. I have so many more ideas for Malec and Shadowhunters in general, so please tell me if you enjoyed it! Kudos and comments are like sunshine on a rainy day, always appreciated. 
> 
> cheers you gorgeous humans.


End file.
